Posted By Boise Thomas On September 17, 2007 @ 3:36 pm In G Living | No Comments

Great. Another “Top things to… green… recycle… blah blah blah.” A fan of top ten lists since Letterman made them his own in the ’80s, I’ve grown tired of the ones you find in the green space. Recycle. Change your light bulbs. Drive less, walk/bike more. No shit, Sherlock. And don’t dump toxic chemicals down the drain, either. I’ve got it.

So, I get a bit “miffed”, as Backhouse would say, when I see another supposedly helpful hint list squirm across my e-mail. But this list, put together by the Co-Op America Quarterly, caught my eye and actually kept my attention.

What gives this particular list the Boise stamp of approval? For starters, with all of our inundation of recycling tips, this one contains some new information — 21 things you didn’t know you could recycle. Crap you have in your house that you no longer need. I call it trash. Backhouse calls it rubbish. Things like batteries, old eyeglasses, cell phones, computers, toothbrushes, razors… take that! And recycle it…

And better still, the list is helpful. It’s chock full of places you can go (both virtual and actual) to make this previously unfathomable recycling easy. Example? Compact fluorescent bulbs. Did you know you could take them to your local IKEA store for recycling? I didn’t. At least until now.

Some of my other favorites (via Co-op America):

Compostable bio-plastics: You probably won’t be able to compost these in your home compost bin or pile. Find a municipal composter to take them to at www.findacomposter.com.

As for the stuff you can’t recycle… Co-op America suggests you send it back to the manufacturer! I love that idea. Let the company deal with the products they make without a post-use plan other than throwing them away… Imagine their mail room.

See the complete list here. Happy recycling items you now know you can.